CEO Amanda Blanc comments on Aviva's Third Quarter 2020 results
Amanda Blanc, Chief Executive Officer, said:
“We are making good progress in our strategy to simplify Aviva’s portfolio and have recently announced the sale of Aviva Singapore and Aviva Vita in Italy for £2 billion.
We are announcing today a new sustainable and resilient dividend policy, based on our core markets of the UK, Ireland and Canada. As we simplify Aviva’s portfolio, we will deliver further value to shareholders by returning excess capital above 180% solvency cover ratio#, once our debt leverage target ratio has been reached.
The Board has declared a 7.0 pence per share interim dividend in respect of the 2020 financial year which will be paid in January 2021. The Board currently expects to recommend a final 2020 dividend of 14 pence per share which is subject to a final decision to be taken in March 2021. The expected 2020 total dividend of 21.0 pence per share is then expected to grow by low to mid-single digits.
Our trading performance is robust and our financial position is strong with a capital surplus of £11.8 billion. The first nine months have demonstrated Aviva’s ability to grow in core markets where we have attractive, long-term growth prospects. Bulk purchase annuities sales increased to £5 billion, which is a record for Aviva and commercial insurance premiums are up 9% across the UK, Canada and Ireland.
The response of our people to the Covid crisis has been nothing less than phenomenal and I would like to thank them for all they have done for our customers this year. We continue to work at pace to deliver our strategy, support our customers, and unlock value for Aviva shareholders.”
9M20 operating highlights
Trading
- Life PVNBP £32.1 billion (9M19: £32.4 billion)
- Value of new business (VNB)‡ £714 million (9M19: £828 million)
- General insurance net written premiums (NWP) £7.1 billion (9M19: £7.0 billion)
- Controllable costs‡ £2.8 billion (9M19: £3.0 billion)
Dividend
- 2020 interim dividend of 7.0 pence per share
- 2020 final dividend expected to be 14.0 pence per share, 21.0p total, subject to a board decision in March 2021
- No 2019 final dividend (2019 total dividend:15.5 pence per share)
Capital & liquidity
- Solvency II capital surplus £11.8 billion (HY20: £12.0 billion)
- Solvency II cover ratio‡# 195% (HY20: 194%)
- Solvency II net asset value# 410 pence per share
- Centre liquidity £2.8 billion1 (July 2020: £2.5 billion)
Download the third quarter announcement PDF (1.67 MB)
Download the third quarter presentation PDF (2.50 MB)
This announcement contains inside information. The person responsible for making this announcement on behalf of the Group is Kirstine Cooper (Group Company Secretary).
‡ Denotes Alternative Performance Measures (APMs), which are key performance indicators of the Group used to measure our performance and financial strength. Further details are included in the ‘Other information’ section of the HY20 Analyst Pack.
# The estimated Solvency II position represents the shareholder view only.
1 Stated as at end October 2020
Authored by Aviva
About Aviva
Aviva Insurance Limited is one of the UK’s leading insurance companies, part of the Aviva group with 34 million customers Worldwide. Aviva Insurance has been in the insurance business for more than 300 years.
In UK commercial, the insurance market remains challenging for insurance brokers and customers, due to the ongoing economic conditions. Aviva Insurance are focusing on improving our processes to ensure Aviva provide commercial customers with insurance cover at an acceptable price. Insurance brokers also recognised our excellent customer service by voting us Insurance Times General Insurer of the Year in 2012, for the second year running. youTalk-insurance sharing Aviva insurance news and video.